A Bad Day To Be Nico Di Angelo
by JerinAnn
Summary: Have you ever wondered what was going though Nico's head during the fight between Cupid in the House of Hades. *Spoilers: don't read unless you have finished The House of Hades. One-shot


It was always bad day when you're the son of Hades, but it was unbelievably worse. Figures that a love god would ruin my day, striping me of all the dignity I had.

The day went downhill after Jason and I met Favonius, the Roman god of the West Winds. He told me he was glad to see me again, that he knew I would return to meet his master. I felt myself go paler than I usually am. I started searching for a way out of the room. There was no way I wanted to meet Cupid.

Jason asked me what Favonius was talking about. I told him it was nothing to which Favonius cried that the person I cared the most for fell into Tartarus and I still denied the truth. I hoped Jason thought he meant Annabeth. The truth was just too humiliating.

I told Favonius that we only came for Diocletian's scepter and asked him where it was. I wanted to be out of that place as soon as possible.

Apparently that was out of the question because we wouldn't be facing any ghosts; we would be facing something much more difficult: we would be facing the Roman god of love. I glanced at the sunlight pouring through the windows, willing them to grow slightly larger so I could squeeze through. Facing Cupid wasn't something I planned on ever doing.

Jason told me I could do it; it would be embarrassing but we would get Diocletian's scepter. It was easy for him to say; he had a girlfriend and didn't know my …_ condition_. I took a deep breath and nodded despite how I felt. I told them I wasn't afraid of a love god which was a total lie.

Favonius was happy and offered us an unripened apple. He started complaining about his symbol being unripened fruit. I felt like my head was going to split. I had to face something I would rather not deal with; I didn't need another god complaining about his side of the bargain. I interrupted him before I decided to meet the judges of the dead and told him to just take us to Cupid.

Before I could react, I dissolved into air.

I thought traveling with Jason was bad, but it was nothing compared to being air. My mind was everywhere, unable to focus on anything. My stomach felt uneasy. I wondered if this was how Hazel felt when she got seasick. I started to feel really sorry for her. I had no clue how she could stand feeling like this constantly.

Favonius turned us back into people and told Jason that Cupid wasn't like what everyone thought, a winged baby with a bow and arrow. I braced myself against the nearest column before I would fall over. My legs were trembling so hard that I was about to fall over. Jason came over to help me, but I waved him off.

The grass at my feet started to turn brown and die. The circle of death I created spread outward, revealing my distress. Favonius told us the story of how he came to serve Cupid, but I was only half-listening. I was trying not to throw up. I took deep breaths trying to calm myself down. This wasn't supposed to be me; I was supposed to be a moody boy who hated everyone. This visit was going to drive me crazy; I almost wished to be back in my dad's palace talking to my step-mother.

During Favonius' story, Jason was shocked to hear that he fell in love with a guy. At least Favonius sympathised with me. I knew that I would be mocked by the rest of the crew if they found out. I wouldn't be treated the same; I would be treated worse that I was then. Hazel would also turn her back on me, my last living relative.

At the end of his fascinating story about falling for someone, the name Cupid echoed through the ruins like a nightmare. I could feel a cold sweat creep up on the back of my neck. Favonius took that as his cue to leave. I half-wished that he would take me with him. I would rather listen to his detailed description of his life rather than spend a minute in Cupid's presence. Favonius warned me that I couldn't lie to Cupid, and if I let my anger rule me, I would have a fate worse than his. That was really comforting. As if I wasn't terrified enough as it was. The ground suddenly shook, and I drew my sword the same time as Jason did.

I suddenly heard a voice speak from behind us, but when i looked no one was there. _Great, this guys is invisible._

Jason and I stood back to back. He called out to Cupid, asking him where he was while my eyes darted around the place. Couldn't we just fight him and be over with it. A laugh more terrifying than anything my father could come up with rang through the ruins making the ground tremble like there was an earthquake.

_Where you least expect me,_ Cupid said as he slammed into Jason. He fell down a set of steps and was sprawled on the floor. I was afraid he was going to crack his head on the steps and knock himself out. I started down the steps as Cupid spoke again, telling Jason that he thought he would know better for he found his true love in Piper.

I called to Jason to see if he was okay. Jason said he was fine: he only got sucker punched. Cupid laughed at Jason, telling him love was never fair. I was starting to really hate love.

An arrow materialized suddenly and was heading straight for my chest. Jason intercepted it with his sword just in time. The arrow exploded against the wall. I felt a wave of gratitude for a split second. If he wasn't here, I would have been skewered. Then I remembered what I was here for and what I had to do. I suddenly wished he missed the arrow.

We ran up the steps, my sides already hurting. Jason pulled me to the side as a gust of wind suddenly tipped over a column that would have crushed me. I felt like yelling in frustration. I didn't want to do this!

Jason asked Cupid if he was Love or Death. Cupid told him to asked the people who met his counterpart, Thanatos. They weren't so different according to Cupid except for the fact that Death was sometimes kinder.

I yelled at him that we only wanted the scepter. I just wanted to the the thing and get out of there. I asked him if he was on the god's side or Gaea's. He shot an arrow at me feet that would have made me the Human Torch if I hadn't stumbled back. I wish he would stop that; I didn't come here for some exercise!

He said love was on every side and no one's side. Jason probably sensed the god behind him because he spun, slicing his sword through the air. I heard Cupid grunt as he struck something, but when Jason swung again after realizing he hit Cupid, he missed. A gold trail of blood was on the stones.

Cupid congratulated Jason about hitting him: a glancing hit at true love was more than most heroes managed. I was glad he was talking to him and leaving me out of it. I wanted to keep my secret to myself for as long as I possibly could. Jason asked him if he could have the scepter now.

_Please,_ I begged in my mind,_ don't make me face him. Let me keep my honor._ Cupid's laugh banished any hope I had. He informed us that only a child of the Underworld could summon the dead legion and only an officer of Rome could lead them.

I froze. Cupid was hinting that Jason wasn't an officer anymore. Did Jason's time at Camp Half-Blood strip him of his title? Did Jason loving a Greek make him un-Roman, so he was unfit to lead them? Jason told Cupid to leave the problem to us. He started to say I could summon the army when an arrow zipped over his shoulder and into my arm. I gasped. I could dimly hear Jason calling my name when the arrow dissolved and memories took it's place, all of them with Percy.

"Enough games!" I yelled. "Show yourself!"

Cupid sounded serious as he informed me of the dangers it brought, to look true love in the face. Jason scrambled out of the way as another column came toppling down as Cupid told us the story about his wife looking at him. I wanted to sigh. Did we have a sign on us telling everyone to tell us stories we didn't want to hear? I felt like smiling when Jason asked if he was ugly and the god laughed. Apparently he was too handsome so she had to suffer greatly to earn her way back to him.

Jason had suddenly thrust his sword in the sky and lightning blasted a crater where Cupid should have been. I felt relief that Jason had destroyed the god of love when an invisible force knocked him over, his sword flying out of his hand and across the road. The wall collapsed next to him and he had to roll out of the way to avoid getting crushed. He barely made it. I felt a wave of fear and anger that he was going to be killed by a god of love, one of the only demigods I respected.

"Stop it!" I screamed. "It's me you want. Leave him alone!"

Cupid was being as confusing as ever when he asked if I knew what I wanted, much less what he wanted. He asked me what I risked in his name. I dodged his question by telling him I've been in Tartarus and back so he didn't scare me. I could tell he didn't believe me. He told me to be honest with him. I remembered what Favonius told me about not being able to lie to Cupid. I felt like cursing. What did they get me into?

The ground around me shifted as I started to summon the dead. The grass turned brown as well. I demanded he give us Diocletian's scepter: we didn't have time for games. He slapped me into a granite pedestal. It took everything I had not to black out from the pain.

He yelled at me that love was no game, it was hard work, it demanded everything from you. It especially demanded the truth. The truth was love was overrated.

Jason asked what Cupid wanted from me. I was surprised that Jason was sticking up for me. Out of everyone who I thought wouldn't it would have to be Jason … or Leo. Cupid urged me to tell him how much of a coward I was to be afraid of myself and my feelings. He wanted me to tell him why I was always alone, running away from camp.

I let loose a guttural scream and the ground cracked open as skeletons crawled their way out of the ground. I wasn't going down without a fight. I still had images of Percy flooding through my head. Cupid was taunting me about hiding like I always seem to do.

Images of Percy defending my sister and I from the the manticore, Percy promising to keep Bianca safe, Percy endangered by the skeletons after telling me of her death, Percy saving me at the ranch, Percy giving me a piece of his blue birthday cake at his fifteenth birthday party. Percy, Percy, Percy. I felt tears struggling to come to my eyes as the skeletons rushed the god. Surly Percy would save me now if he was here.

Cupid asked if I had strength after all. I thought of Jason only a few yards away. I said I left Camp Half-blood because of love, that I loved Annabeth. Cupid said I was still hiding, I didn't have the strength.

Jason called to me and said he understood. I looked toward him, realizing he knew how I really felt, my true feelings. I shook my head. There was no way he could understand; he had to realize that.

Cupid rebuked me about running away again, from my friends and myself. I yelled that I didn't have friends; I left camp because I don't and will never belong.

Even though my skeletons pinned Cupid down, he laughed cruelly. He really was a monster. Jason told him to leave me alone, but his voice faltered. I guess he realized this was his job.

I gulped. I needed to be strong, to find the strength to say it. The whole world was depending on this. I confessed in a broken voice that I didn't love Annabeth when Jason broke in saying I was jealous of her. That was the reason I didn't want to be around, why I didn't want to be around Percy. He said it made total sense.

So he now knew the truth. There was no reason to keep fighting it now so the skeletons collapsed into piles of bones and then into dust.  
"I hated myself," I said weakly. "I hated Percy Jackson."  
Cupid revealed himself to me. He looked so handsome that it was hard to look at him. He stared at me with satisfaction, knowing I was about to tell the truth: I had a crush on Percy.  
I demanded to know if he was happy now, but he said Love doesn't always make you happy, but I at least faced it now, which was the only way to defeat him.

He dissolved into wind to leave me to face Jason. Where the god once stood, the scepter of Diocletian laid there waiting for me to pick it up.

I knelt down and picked it up. I looked at Jason, waiting for the mockery to begin. Jason instead told me that if the others found out, I'd have more people to back me up and unleash the fury of the gods on people who gave me a problem. I scowled, thinking about the others finding out. Jason informed me that it was my call to tell the others. I told him I didn't feel that way anymore, I was young and impressionable, but he looked like he didn't believe me.

I wanted the day to just be over. I felt exposed. I just wanted time to think about what just happened.

Jason tried to improve my mood by telling me that was one of the bravest things he ever saw. I ignored him, saying we should get back to the ship. He said he could fly us, but I insisted that we shadow travel. I never wanted to fly again. It was also about time he did something uncomfortable for a change. I smiled slightly as we headed for the shadows, thinking about his discomfort.


End file.
